My Sweet Princess
by NihilismBot
Summary: Cassie doesn't know when she started dating Jacqui. Jacqui has some idea. (Contains some language and one instance of a homophobic slur)


Cassie would say that she and Jacqui never really started dating. They were friends and then one day they decided to add kissing into the mix. But neither formally asked the other one out.

Jacqui would agree that neither asked the other out. But she would point to a particular day back in junior high for when they started dating.

After her divorce from Johnny, Sonya decided to purchase a home near Jax. If asked why, she would say the schools in the area were rated well and there were few weather emergencies and it was nice to be out of the city. Really it was the convenience of having a friend to leave Cassie with when anything came up with Special Forces.

So long as the weather wasn't hazardous, Cassie and Jacqui would walk to and from school together. With Jacqui being placed in advanced classes, they only saw each other when passing through the hallways. Walking home was a way for them to chat and destress from the day.

It was still early in the school year. Most of the leaves had already turned their autumn color and some had begun falling from the trees. It was cool out, not cold, but Cassie was grateful for the sweater her mother insisted she bring. She would take it off before she got home- couldn't let her mother know she had been right.

Cassie stood outside of the building and excitedly waved her friend over when she saw her. Jacqui jogged over, but she seemed down. It immediately became clear why.

"How'd you get that black eye?" Cassie looked at her friend with concern on her face.

"Oh. Um." Jacqui turned her face and tried to nonchalantly cover her eye with her hand. "It's nothing."

"The hell it is! Who did this? I'll kick their ass!"

Jacqui could hold her own in a fight, there was no question about that. But she wouldn't ever even dream of raising a fist on school grounds. By contrast, Cassie was quite familiar with the inside of the principal's office.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go home."

Cassie stubbornly stopped walking. "I'm not moving until you tell me who did this!"

Jacqui sighed at the childish display, but didn't stop moving. "Fine. I'll walk home without you."

In two quick strides, Cassie was again at Jacqui's side. "Jacqueline Sonya Briggs! You tell me who did this right now or I'll make it a matching set!" Cassie pounded her fist into her hands for emphasis.

"Ha!" Jacqui laughed, "As if you could hit me!"

"Hey! I'll fucking do it!" Cassie nudged Jacqui with her shoulder. "Just tell me who hit you!"

Jacqui shook her head. "I told you, don't worry about it. She already got detention."

"'She?' So it was a girl! Was is Candence? Kaylee? Mikayla? Wait! I bet it was Tiffany!"

Nervously, Jacqui gripped at the straps of her backpack. Cassie huffed when her friend refused to say anything.

"Fine! If you won't tell me, I'll just kick all their asses, get detention myself, and when I see one of them in detention, I'll kick her ass again!"

"Cassie…"

"I'll do it!"

Jacqui growled in annoyance. "Just drop it!"

Indignantly, Cassie crossed her arms. "Fine. Whatever."

The two walked in silence. However, it quickly proved too much for Cassie and she blurted out, "At least tell me _why_ they hit you!"

Jacqui stopped walking. She looked at her feet and shifted her weight from side to side. "I… I don't want to talk about it."

"Jacqui…" Cassie softened her expression and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

A tear fell down Jacqui's cheek and landed in the dirt next to her shoe. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's nothing! I'm fine!"

Cassie walked over the Jacqui a draped an arm over her shoulder."You're a terrible liar. Just tell me."

Jacqui tried to stop crying, but she wasn't able to. Tears streamed down her face. The deep breaths she was taking turned into hiccuping sobs. Cassie put her hands on Jacqui's shoulders trying to calm her down.

"Jacqui. Jacqui, it's okay. I'm here for you. Please, tell me what's wrong," Cassie's voice was soothing.

Jacqui took a few more deep breaths to calm herself. "There's a rumor at school and… She called me a…" Jacqui whispered the word, "Dyke."

It was no surprise that Cassie hadn't heard the rumor. No one would have dared talk about Jacqui in front of Cassie.

"That's stupid. That doesn't even matter," said Cassie.

Jacqui smiled at Cassie through her tears. She was relieved to hear her friend say those words. "I know. But… She called me that and said I was disgusting. I told her to fuck off and that's when she hit me. I… I know I could have hit back but… I don't want to worry my parents so…"

"Jacqui." Cassie pulled her friend into a hug.

They stayed still until Jacqui was finally able to calm down. Jacqui wiped the tears from her face, being careful around her bruised eye.

"Thanks, Cass."

"Any time." Cassie smiled brightly. "Hey! I have an idea!"

"What?"

"I'll be your girlfriend!"

Jacqui smiled, "I think that might make it worse."

"No no, hear me out! No one would dare fuck with you if they knew we were together! Everyone in school is afraid of me! I mean, check out these guns!" Cassie made a muscle to emphasize her point.

Jacqui laughed. "Oh, okay, tough guy. I'll date you."

"Great!" Cassie grabbed a hold of Jacqui's hand, there may have been a faint blush on Jacqui's face when she did so. "As your first act as my girlfriend, tell me who the mother fucker is that hurt my sweet princess!"

Jacqui lightly punched Cassie in the shoulder. "No way! I'd like it if _my_ sweet princess could stay out of detention for more than two weeks!"

"Hey now!" Cassie touched her chest trying to look offended. "I'll have you know that I am on week _four_ of no detention!"

Jacqui rolled her eyes. "I'm so proud of you."

The pair went about their lives in the same way after that day. There was no clear divide for when Jacqui introducing Cassie as "my girlfriend" went from an inside joke to a serious declaration. And it wasn't clear when Cassie stopped kissing Jacqui "for practice" and started kissing her for real.


End file.
